Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

446 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFT"Sir, if a snake tuk sich advantage of me, I'dthrow him in the fire!"Bites of Other Animals.—Ordinarily the biteof a non-venomous animal needs no other attentionthan cleansing and an antiseptic dressing, unlessthere is enough laceration to require surgical measures.Still, the bite of any animal, from mouseto man, may be dangerous. Germs from foulteeth may be carried into the wound. Vindictive andlong-sustained anger sometimes seems to create avirus in the saliva, so that the bite of a teased andinfuriated animal may act almost as a venom. Ifthere be reasonable doubt, cauterize the wound asfor snake bite, or with nitrate of silver, or with anail brought to a white heat (not so painful as ifonly red-hot). This will not, in all likihood, preventan attack of hydrophobia if the animal wasrabid, but it will kill such other poison or germs asmay have been introduced.Rabies.—Hydrophobia (fear or aversion forwater) is only a symptom, and is shown only byman, not, as is commonly believed, by dogs. Notwithstandingthat there are cranks (even a few ofthem in the medical profession) who assert thatthere is no such disease as rabies, it is in fact themost terrible ailment that afflicts mankind. In agreat majority of cases, unless the patient is giventhe Pasteur treatment in due time, he will sufferthe most excruciating agony, and death is certain,since no known drug is of any avail. Faith in thecurative powers of **the madstone" is nothing but asuperstition: the compacted fiber from an animal'sstomach, or calculus, or porous stone, which goesby that name merely clings if there happens to bea discharge of blood or pus from the wound, anddraws out no virus whatever ; for there is none inthe circulation—the virus of rabies travels along thenerves.Epidemics of rabies are by no means confined todomesticated animals. They occur among wolves,ioxes. jackals, hj^enas, bears, skunks, rats, and even